


Underground On Deburid I

by thebewlaysister



Series: The Deburidian Divide [2]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Hurt Spock, Hurt/Comfort, Medical Procedures, Minor Injuries, Platonic Male/Male Relationships, Stranded
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-07-13
Packaged: 2018-09-14 12:13:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9180961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebewlaysister/pseuds/thebewlaysister
Summary: While on a search and rescue mission for missing cadets, Kirk, McCoy and Spock become trapped underground on an alien planet and must find ways to entertain themselves.





	1. The Keeper Of The Base

**Author's Note:**

> Fair warning, I'm taking a lot of liberties with the AOS reboot timeline for the sake of narrative. I decided that in this tangential AU, the Federation discovers some TNG species **much** earlier than in the original timeline. Additionally, a thread from Spock's family arc in the first part of this series is included.

Breathless and choking slightly, the three men stopped in their tracks as they took in their surroundings. The automatic door they had just passed through had slammed behind them and now a thin veil of planetary dust hung in the air. Kirk scanned a wall display closely, his finger slowly laying to rest on one small section. He tapped it.

"Food reserves. This must have been some kind of observation station ..."  
"Who says it's not still being used?" McCoy suggested with a nervous glance. Suddenly a creak behind them made the two men jump, and a deafening clattering of metalware filled the room.

Spock had opened a cupboard only for the contents to come pouring out onto the floor; pots, pans, cutlery, plates ... dirty, unremarkable silverware had piled up at the Vulcan's feet. Spock bent down, meaning to begin returning the objects to their home, but hesitated a moment. His whole left arm hung limply. The tumble he had taken in their hurry to reach shelter had evidently left rather more than a few lacerations. He subsequently shifted the work to his right hand. Behind him, Kirk gave McCoy a knowing glance.

Acknowledging, McCoy pulled out his tricorder and scanned Spock while the Vulcan continued his work.  
"Spock... Spock." He paused a moment as his grimace intensified. "... Your arm is broken in three different places..."  
Spock ignored the comment and continued replacing the silverware. Kirk returned his attention to the wall display.

Spock began to speak. "Captain, judging by my calculations of the planet's orbit, we will not be able to return to the surface for six weeks. We must inspect the food reserves and ensure they are sufficient for the duration of our stay."  
"There are medical supplies, according to this map-"  
"Yeah but probably nothing to fix bones-" McCoy said.  
"Then Spock's arm will have to heal the old fashioned way-  
"The doctor was right," Spock interrupted. "This base is occupied." He had finished his domestic handiwork and was now gesturing to a beeping issuing over Kirk's shoulder.

A small speck on the display was flashing and moving.

"Friendly?"  
"God knows."

Kirk and Spock pulled out their phasers and the three men approached the door at the far end of the room. The beeping was beginning to get louder. Kirk turned the handle slowly and the door inched opened.

Light suddenly flooded in at their feet.

The door opened fully to reveal a vast open chamber beneath them. Hewn out of the surrounding red rock, artificial lighting bathed the entire space and a staircase wound downwards into it from the doorway where the men were standing. A humanoid figure was hurrying across the expanse towards them. Their phasers followed it.

The figure reached the bottom of the staircase and hesitated, gazing upwards towards them. Its whole body was hidden in a heavy hooded cloak. It began to raise its empty hands, as though communicating peaceful intentions, and began to ascend.

When it was within a few steps of the doorway, it pulled down its hood. They lowered their phasers.

The figure was a young woman with elfin features. She had sparkling green eyes and they were framed by light brown skin and slightly curled red hair. She raised an open palm in greeting.

"Friends, I am Hettia, the Keeper of this observation base."  
"You are Romulan-" Spock observed with an elevated brow.  
"Only half," she smiled. "Oh! But do not worry!" she urged, noticing their confused expressions. "I am not affiliated with the Empire. I promise to explain further-"  
She grabbed Kirk's arm excitedly.  
"-you must let me show you around."

They followed her down the staircase one by one.  
"I haven't spoken to anyone in six years," she continued. "I mean, nobody of interest anyway-"  
"Define interest," Spock interjected.  
"Oh, I only mean to say the Deburidian guards are so very dry. They only come here once every six months to deliver supplies and they are the stiffest set of people I've ever had the displeasure to cross paths with."

At this the group began to cross the chamber.

"It's so nice to finally have more _wielding_ company. Two Humans and a Vulcan, right?"  
"Wait, how do you know that?"  
"Oh, my sensors picked you up the moment you landed on the planet."  
"The Deburidians set all this up?" Kirk was dazzled.  
"They own it. The whole planet and all the satellites around it. They lease it out as a holiday planet to a multiplanetary commercial entity, as part of a deal with the Ferengi-"

McCoy coughed slightly in Kirk's direction. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the distinct impression that the Deburidians were, quote-unquote, 'notoriously technophobic'?"  
"Huh, that's what they want you to think," Hettia replied. "No, you see, the Deburidian elites have themselves a pretty neat deal-"  
"-wait, how is it you know English?" McCoy interrupted.

They had reached a pair of heavy double doors at one end of the chamber. Hettia stood to once side and entered a code on a keypad. One buzz later and the doors had opened, revealing a small and primitive robotic companion behind them. "Welcome!" it greeted in clear English, its mismatched arms outstretched.

"I have a lot of time on my hands," Hettia laughed. "The Deburidians at least know how to keep me sane."

..........................................

The four of them were standing in a small lightly furnished room. Worn out futons and stools of various sizes were scattered around a low-lying desk in the centre of the room.

"As Keeper, I keep all the planetary hardware running during close approach," Hettia explained as she crossed the room. "All the upper-level infrastructure gets frazzled by the solar radiation so the core mechanisms and action potentials are stored down here instead."

She stopped and turned to face them.

"One of you is hurt," she said suddenly. She visually scanned the three of them, before settling on Spock.  
McCoy nodded.

"Broken bones -- broken _Vulcan_ bones, which is just my luck. I'm a highly trained doctor _sans_ medical kit. I don’t suppose you have any medical supplies?"

"Nothing to fix bones, only to hold them in place. Simple stuff. Is that sufficient?"

"Six weeks stuck underground with only twentieth century medical equipment?" McCoy sighed. "It'll do."

Hettia returned to the doorway where they were still gathered.

"Forgive me, in all my excitement I forgot to ask for your names-"

"Captain James Kirk," he began, "and this is Commander Spock." The Vulcan nodded in greeting. "And this is Doctor Leonard McCoy."

Hettia smiled at each of them in turn.

"Doctor McCoy, Commander Spock," she said finally. "Let me show you to my medical bay."

.........................................................

 


	2. Day One : The Medical Bay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spock gets ... pacified.

"Fascinating," Spock stood gazing at the main desk, which was strewn with countless artifacts. A small potted organism had caught his attention. The animal shimmered in a fluorescent purple colour and was shooting little bubbles out of its slowly swaying tentacles. It moved as though in water, though he knew they were most definitely on dry land.

"Spock, _please_ sit down." Bones was rifling through a cupboard filled with bandages and linens. "Do you, uh, usually keep animals in your medical bay?" he asked, disgruntled.

Hettia hung up her cloak.

"It's a Paxia," she explained, tickling one of its tendrils. The organism let out a soft purr. "It has a calming effect on those it senses to be distressed or in pain. Don't worry, it self-sterilizes, it's totally safe."

McCoy turned from the Paxia to Spock, who was still staring at the organism. The Vulcan's gaze was unfocused and something close to bliss was curled between his lips.

"That's a first," the doctor muttered. He pulled a dazed Spock into a sitting position on the edge of the medi-bed. He gently unzipped and removed Spock's blue overshirt and rolled up the left sleeve of the black layer underneath, and then started working on the cast.

"Twentieth century bone-setting, what a farce. How people lived like this is beyond me."

Kirk suddenly appeared on the desk's computer interface.

"Bones. Spock."

"A little busy, Captain!" McCoy called distractedly from the bed.

"You'll never guess what I've found," Kirk's voice carried through the room.

"Mister Kirk?" Hettia responded.

"Books. Games... Virtual reality generators! Hettia, do the Deburidians bring all this stuff to you ?"

"The items accumulate over the course of their various raids. They offload the stuff here. _To keep me sane,"_ she repeated.

"Mister Kirk," she continued. "Why don't we each tell our stories this evening ? I haven't had any guests in years, so I will lay out a supper. You will each be treated like those kings of yours!"

"Kings. Suppers. Bone-setting. Yep, we're gonna be living in the Middle Ages. Spock, how do you feel ?"

Spock was slow to respond. He turned to McCoy slowly with his eyes still glazed over and spoke in a hollow, deadpan tone : "Wonderful, doctor."

"The cast is almost set. Once it's done I'll put the arm in a sling and then, well ... your body is just gonna have to do its thing."

"That will be adequate, Doctor." He placed a reassuring right hand on McCoy's shoulder. The doctor stared incredulously for a moment.

"I'm starting to like that Paxia," McCoy murmured.

He picked up a large piece of black cloth and began tying it into a sling around Spock's arm.

McCoy smiled. "Hey, Hettia ... when we finally get out of here, I don't suppose you'd have a spare Paxia to go ?"

...................


	3. Day One : Supper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mostly a small narrative chapter with not enough McSpirk because I'm a risky biscuit who foolishly tries to incorporate too many ideas into one arc, but anyway.... the usual excessive taking of canon liberties proceeds .......

"So, Hettia, tell us how you came to be here," Kirk enquired.

The four of them were perched around the low-lying desk and the air was filled with incense. The lights were low to simulate evening and more than one of them was starting to feel sleepy. The three men had wrapped themselves in thick-fibered robes garnered from Hettia's stores.

"You told us the Deburidians brought all that stuff to you, and you say you're half-Romulan, and ... you knew Spock was hurt without anybody suggesting anything. Care to explain?"

Hettia took a sip from her drink before speaking. She was bouncing around in her seat from sheer excitement. "I have not yet provided you with a supper worthy of kings ! Allow me one moment-"

She rose from her seat and hurried into a nearby room and did not return for a couple of minutes.

"How's your arm, Spock?" Kirk enquired with concern.  
"Doctor McCoy assures me the bone will heal adequately. I am quite comfortable -"

Hettia suddenly reappeared in the doorway with a very large silver tray. Its burden consisted of several hot & steamy side dishes, a large seeded loaf and something resembling a huge roast turkey.

They stared in astonishment as she placed the tray down on their table.

"Earth & Vulcan delicacies!" she exclaimed.  
"How on earth -- how did you --" Kirk spluttered.  
"Cranberry sauce!" McCoy cried in recognition, before putting on a fake voice : " _Just like momma used to make_!"  
Grabbing dishes, they began tucking in.  
Spock however had not forgotten their original topic of conversation.  
"Ma'am, how is it you knew I was injured?"

Hettia sat herself down at the table once more and the others looked up from their food. She paused in thought for a moment.

"My two grandmothers were Betazoid so I have very weak telepathic abilities." She observed their blank looks.  
"I can explain better with this."

Hettia pulled out a holographic device from a pocket and placed it in a space on the table. In a couple of moments a multiplanetary display had spread itself before them.

"This is the Deburid system, and this is is us." She tapped the innermost planet and a female voice spoke. "Dominix. Category : Holiday Planet. Status : Commercial Lease. Lease Holders : Ferengi Holiday Resorts Inc. ."  
"And these two," she pointed to two more planets, "are Deburid III and Deburid IV, home to the rival Deburid tribes." She zoomed in on the two neighbours.  
"Deburid IV, or Deburid Major, is not home to a technophobic people as you have been led to believe, Mister Kirk. Oh, they're isolationist, but they're not technophobic. They simply carefully monitor their terms of engagement. They have been warp-capable for three hundred of your Earth years but choose not to engage in interstellar travel."  
"Why not?"  
"Their neighbours on Deburid III were subdued and enslaved to serve their own civilizational elite. They prevent any transfer of technology to the planet because that would destroy the delicate imbalance allowing the continued segregation between their planets."

"Forms of enslavement and segregation remaining after major technological progress has accrued is highly unusual," Spock responded.  
Hettia returned, "Mister Spock, I know something of the logic of your race, at least through my ... biased ... Romulan parentage. And you are surely familiar with the distribution of points on a bell curve. The majority of civilizations progress, yes, but a minority cling to old cultural mores of association." She paused a moment. "Their foundation is not logic. Their motive is hate, and mythological superiority."

Hettia zoomed out from the planets to the wider system.  
The three men had ceased to pay attention to their plates.

"Deburidian guards raid any vulnerable ships that pass this system. They raid cargo but they also capture the peoples on board and deposit them on the enslaved planet. My family is from there ... I am from Deburid III"

The three men were silent for a moment.

"I was selected as Keeper from a small pool of trainees on Deburid Minor." Hettia grinned. "Young local troublemakers are usually pacified by separation and entrance into the pool, to eventually be posted on isolated bases throughout the system. There have been forty three other Dominix Keepers before me."

The holographic display shifted to an archival format displaying all the heads and profiles of the prior occupants of Dominix.

"I have been Keeper here for six of your years," Hettia finished. She watched as the holograms gently and very slowly skimmed cyclically through the air. Her voice dropped a little. "They are long years."  
"I can't imagine," Kirk replied softly.

"One more thing," McCoy enquired thickly through a mouthful of pastry. At some point during the little show-and-tell, he had re-engaged in the task of pulling apart his steak pie. "This food," he indicated rather enthusiastically with his fork. "How did you make all this food?"  
"Do you think I sit around doing nothing for six years?" Hettia simpered in a tone of false offence. "With all this material at my disposal? I have told you, I find ways to keep myself sane."  
She got up from the table and walked to a drawer before pulling out a large wad of papers, which she placed on top of the cabinet with a gentle pat. They all looked a little nonplussed.  
"I designed and updated many of the planet's present mechanisms myself. An advanced food synthesizer is peanuts -- to use one of your Earth phrases."


End file.
